Archives
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Movie views evangelicals as key environmental reformers
Posted: 11/17/06
The Great Warming, a movie about climate change and the initiatives aimed at reversing its trend toward permanent ecologic damage. Movie views evangelicals as
key environmental reformersBy Hannah Elliott
Associated Baptist Press
DALLAS (ABP)—A Canadian film team has released in United States theatres The Great Warming, a movie about climate change and the initiatives aimed at reversing its trend toward permanent ecologic damage.
Unlike other recent environmental movies, like Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, The Great Warming portrays evangelicals as a group with the potential to push governmental policies toward sustainable living.
11/17/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Executive Board votes to explore criminal charges, recovery of Valley funds
Posted: 11/13/06
Executive Board votes to explore
criminal charges, recovery of Valley fundsBy Ken Camp
Managing Editor
DALLAS—At a called closed-door meeting prior to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting, the BGCT Executive Board voted to implement all of the recommendations of an investigative team that discovered mismanagement and misuse of church starting funds in the Rio Grande Valley.
The board also directed BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade to explore with legal counsel “the full range of methods for recovery of funds” and determine whether to refer the reports’ findings to law enforcement.
Newly elected BGCT officers are First Vice President, Joy Fenner; President, Steve Vernon; and Second Vice President, Roberto Rodriguez . (BGCT Photo by Robert Rogers) 11/16/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Pattern of exaggeration repeated in Mexico, observers say
Posted: 11/10/06
Pattern of exaggeration
repeated in Mexico, observers sayBy Ken Camp
Managing Editor
Otto Arango exported church planting strategies he developed in South Texas to Latin America through the Piper Institute for Church Planting, a 2-year-old nonprofit corporation that evolved from the Institute for Church Planting he founded in McAllen.
But some observers familiar with his church starting initiatives in Mexico assert Arango—the central figure in an investigation that revealed misuse and mismanagement of Baptist General Convention of Texas church starting funds in the Rio Grande Valley—also exported a pattern of exaggerated claims.
11/13/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Missouri voters protect stem-cell research
Posted: 11/13/06
Missouri voters protect stem-cell research
By Hannah Elliott
Associated Baptist Press
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (ABP)—Voters in Missouri Nov. 7 narrowly approved a constitutional amendment protecting stem-cell research in the state, causing opponents to cite deception and propaganda as the reason for their loss.
Preliminary results show the amendment passed with 51.1 percent of the votes—a winning margin of roughly 47,000 votes.
11/13/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Megachurches shift focus to community involvement
Posted: 11/10/06
ABOVE: Heather Merchant (right) helps repaint the house of Gladys Serrano (left) with a team from Fellowship Bible Church North in Plano. Serrano, a widow, had trouble keeping up with her house repairs after her husband's death, so members the church offered their assistance. (RNS photos by Lawrence Jenkins) Megachurches shift focus
to community involvementBy Adelle Banks
Religion News Service
PLANO (RNS)—Holding a paint roller in one hand and steadying a ladder for another volunteer with the other, Heather Merchant joined 15 fellow megachurch members in helping a widow turn her house back into more of a home.
Merchant and others in her “life group” at Fellowship Bible Church North spent a Saturday putting their faith in action, a call that’s being answered throughout Merchant’s church, which draws about 3,200 people each weekend.
11/11/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Executive Board sets second called meeting to respond to investigation
Updated: 11/10/06
Executive Board sets second called
meeting to respond to investigationBy Ken Camp
Managing Editor
DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board will meet in executive session immediately prior to the convention’s annual meeting to consider its response to an investigative team’s report about mismanaged and misused church starting funds in the Rio Grande Valley.
The called meeting, slated from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Nov. 13, at the Dallas Convention Center will be the second special meeting of the board within two weeks. On Oct. 31, the board heard attorneys Diane Dillard and Michael Rodriguez and forensic accountant Carlos Barrera present evidence from a five-month independent investigation into allegations of impropriety in the Valley.
The full report is available here as a pdf document. See related articles:
• Pattern of exaggeration repeated in Mexico, observers say
• Executive Board sets second called meeting to respond to investigation
Previous articles:
• Evidence found of misuse of Valley funds
• Investigation team outlines preventative steps
• Brief excerpts from the report
• Otto Arango's earnings claims disputed by directors of missions
• BGCT faces challenges leaders say
• EDITORIAL: Executive Board must rise to the occasion• Charles Wade has posted a response to the report here.
11/10/2006 - By John Rutledge
